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The poor need a hand-up, not a hand-out - what you said about food stamps cuts: John L. Micek

Food Stamps Outage

In this photo taken Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010, an Electronic benefit Transfer card, food stamp recipients use to purchase food, is seen at the Sacramento County Economic Development Department in Sacramento, Calif. Shoppers in Illinois and other states have been unable to use their food stamp debit cards because of an outage at the vendor that processes the payments. Xerox Corp. spokeswoman Karen Arena confirmed Saturday that some Electronic Benefits Transfer systems are experiencing temporary connectivity issues. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

To review: An estimated 175,000 households would lose an average of $65 per month in benefits. That's based on data the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger culled from state statistics. The loss would total about $136 million statewide annually, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

So we asked you whether you'd been on food stamps and how that experience affected you. We also asked you whether you thought the federal government did an effective job of delivering services to the needy.

Commenter Helen74 was one of the readers who shared her experience of receiving food stamps assistance:

"Have any of the nasty commenters ever really been on foodstamps? For a year I was, yea, rice & beans are cheap & you could make your own bread if you were not working. Many people who make low pay get foodstamps," she wrotei. "My neighbors were pissed at the smell of firewood coming from my house when I lived in Philly. It takes money to buy fuel to cook rice, etc. I dragged it home from the park. Used an old wood stove that was not exactly fit for use but since you now only get $800 a season for LiHeap, the cost of cooking the bags of beans is rather high so you need the money for heat.

"Even large cans of beans present a problem if your refrigeration is limited by the electricity costs. Many poor stock up on candles for the last months before April & more sunlight for the evenings. Children need lots of food stuffs," she continued. "When I was on the foodstamps, a church group accosted me because I did not buy junk food for my poor kids who didn't have cookies as my 16 year old cried to the dumb preacher's b---.

"Now I have a doctor telling me to eat low-fat items, whole cheese prevents osteoporosis but even doctors lack nutritional information due to advertising taking the place of observation, reading & learning.

"Powdered milk is not a good substitute for whole milk so we need the WIC funds increased to take care of the little babies not aborted, but Holy Rollers don't want to expand the food for the poor programs. Churches never provided much for the poor before the Great War On Poverty started."

Writing on Facebook, commenterRobert Steinmeierreflected some of the prevailing sentiment, noting that "food stamps should only be a way to get on your feet not for survival."

Facebook commenterLisa Sweitzer Shay offered a similar sentiment, writing that she had received help as a divorced mother who was attending nursing school.

"There should a limit of time, children and require community service or going to school. The government need to cut their paychecks, decrease its spending, increase taxes to the rich and create jobs in this country," she wrote.

Many of you relayed experiences of seeing benefits recipients buying soda or junk food with their benefit cards -- which are legally allowed. Among them was commenter Denny Bonavita, who said he had "long argued to do away with food stamps and bring back soup kitchens or the modern equivalent.

"Judging by what I see in the checkout line, many people with Access cards aren't buying nutritionally good foods, and are wasting money," he wrote. "I don't mind paying for good food, but I would like someone to see the children -- ensure that they are eating well, check for signs of abuse, etc."

That, in turn, sparked a debate about the food choices and the nutritional knowledge of benefits recipients. The cheap, processed foods that are the least expensive, and therefore the most attractive option, to benefits recipients are usually filled with sodium and sugar, bringing on obesity and other maladies.

"Many of the people you are talking about are not only obese but malnourished," commenter Sokratez wrote.

"Unfortunately our system is full of perverse incentives that encourage the poor to buy foods that provides the most calories per dollar but are among the least nutritious food," he continued. "The body doesn't distinguish much between malnutrition and caloric deficit, both lead to hunger. So the malnourished person buys more cheap calories and gets fatter."

And, as you might expect, our decision to include "War on the Poor" in the headline sparked its own share of debate on whether the nation's wealthy were paying their fair share at the expense of the neediest.

"[First] of all, there is no 'war on the poor,'" commenter Butcher wrote. "If there was, they would herded out into the streets and slaughtered, which is not happening. For the media and Micek to carelessly state that there is a "war on the poor" is yellow journalism.

"[Second] there are a lot of posts about many poor people who are fat. So what? The alternative is starvation, the same goes for the so-called childhood obesity crisis, which is B.S.," he observed.

Commenter NeverBeenPolled offered an alternative perspective:

"I used to feel as many of the other posters on this article. I thought families on SNAP wouldn't be hurt by the cut that they could just tighten their belts like I had to when my budget was affected," she wrote.

In ... August of last year my company closed its doors and shipped the jobs to Costa Rica. We as a family tightened our belts and I started looking for a new job. I have been unsuccessful in finding a job in my chosen career path but have taken a part time job in a local grocery store. Then my husband injured himself and is not able to work so again our budget has taken a hit.

"At that point we sucked up our pride and filed for assistance. We have a 4 person household and currently get $134 a month on SNAP now just so you know I have an Iphone and get all kinds of nasty looks but I was already in contract with the phone before I went on welfare and now that my phone contract is up I called the phone company and spoke with a manager and they were willing to remove the data plan and put a block on the data so yes I am sporting an expensive phone but its the cheapest voice plan the company allows," she continued.

"We don't have a house phone and my husband and children don't have cell phones. We don't have car payments but do have a house payment. I already buy al ot of food in bulk and fortunately do have a freezer so we can buy meat when its on sale I use coupons even taking the time to contact companys (sic) that don't normally put out coupons asking if they have any available so that I can still provide."

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